Entrevista Profesora Colegio Municipal Gratuito

The Pini family was part of an early group of Italian immigrant settlers in the Swanton area beginning in the 1920s. Scaramozzino’s interview with Marie (Pini) Stoner on February 1, 2014 provided an oral history of her family’s time in Swanton, family memorabilia including a copy of their land lease, and selected family photographs of their time there.169 Marie Pini Stoner’s parents, Celeste Pini and Virginia (Cordano) Pini immigrated to the United States individually from Italy, he in 1910 from Parma, and she in 1921 from Bardi during the decade of the fastest growth of Italian immigration in California. As with many European immigrants in the U.S. they each had a family member who preceded them to California: Celeste followed his brother first to San Francisco, and Virginia had a sister in Santa Cruz. Therefore, family ties drew them to the Central Coast region. Celeste and Virginia met at the former Garibaldi Hotel on Front Street in Santa Cruz.170

168 _{Santa Cruz Public Library, “Coast Dairies Property,” 34, 35.} 169

Scaramozzino, “Una Legua Cuadrada,” Appendix B: Pini Ranch and Family including land lease document, 116-124.

In 1922, Celeste and Virginia married and moved to Swanton and leased a 178- acre portion of the former Archibald Ranch (Rancho Agua Puerca y Las Trancas) on the Western Terrace in a joint agreement with eight other Italian immigrant farmers-lessees. They referred to their farming area as “La Siberia” (which they pronounced SEEberia) in reference to the strong cold winds that blow across the ranch fields and pastures. Marie Pini, their first child, was born the following year. The property lease was held between the landowner and lessor, C. H. Widemann (the same surname as the early artichoke rancher in San Mateo County mentioned previously) and nine named lessees: Attilo Venturini, Ermano Lombardi, Battista Giannini, Jio Pini, Celeste Pini (Marie Pini Stoner’s father), Giacinto Conrado, M. Conrado, Paolino Faro and Peitro Vaggioli. The lease agreement was for a period of ten years, from February 1, 1922 and January 31, 1932 with an option to renew at the end of the initial term. According to Marie Pini Stoner, the lease was extended through mutual agreement between the parties until April 1940 when the Pinis purchased a home in Santa Cruz. The lease describes the 178 acres as located within “portion of the Archibald Ranch lying between Folger Station and Swanton on western side at top of the hill on the right bank of Scott Creek and designated as Rancho No. 5 and 6 comprising 178 acres.”171 The lot map of the Rancho shown in Figure 4-1 shows the Study Area, of which the Pinis’ leased area is a part, in Lots 5 and 6. The lease also specifies that the Pinis and their lessee partners were to submit their lease payments at the Coast Dairies & Land Company office, linking their 178 acre-lease area to the property and entrepreneurial powerhouse.172 It is unclear whether the lessor,

171

Scaramozzino, “Una Legua Cuadrada,” Appendix B: Pini Ranch and Family including land lease document, 122-124.

C. H. Widemann, was the actual land owner, or whether he also leased and then sub- leased to the families. It is also unclear whether Widemann is the same person that was a pioneer of artichoke cultivation a few years prior (F. H. Widemann) as mentioned

previously or whether perhaps the lessor to the Pinis was a relation. Research into the identity confirmation would contribute to clarification of historical land ownership and tenure.

The Pini, Conrado and Venturini families shared their “village” of houses, barns and other ranch structures (referenced herein as the Pini Village) in the draw of the upper portion of Cowboy Shack Gulch. The small settlement used by the three families and ranch workers was built in the mid-1920s in the approximate area of the present-day Hay Barn in the upper portion of Cowboy Shack Gulch drainage within the Study Area boundaries.173 These structures can be seen in the historical aerial photograph from 1928 in Figure 4-8 presented subsequently in this chapter. The construction of ranch buildings and supporting infrastructure in a portion of the Western Terrace of the Rancho is relevant in the likelihood that there were no such structures previously, and if so, then these changes would have caused some level of effect or change upon botanical

resources. The lease language stipulates that the lessor would furnish for the lessees all necessary water piping for domestic uses, and all (construction) materials required for a 14-room dwelling, barn(s), a packing house and fencing; lessees were to construct the fences, per paragraph 4 of the lease. The lessor also agrees to grade a “piece of road from

173

Scaramozzino, “Una Legua Cuadrada,” 119, 122-123. Drainage nomenclature from Jim A. West, “Traversing Swanton Road,” 108.

Scott Creek to the top of the hill and to build or cause to be built a bridge across Scott Creek” for vehicles and horses to cross the creek.174

Figure 4-2 is a hand-drawn illustration by Marie (Pini) Stoner and her brother Geno Pini of the Pini et al. family ranch locations and features which shows the location of the road and bridge across Scott Creek. Figure 4-3, a portion of the hand-drawn map by Marie (Pini) Stoner and Geno Pini, shows a schematic drawing of the ranch buildings, personal family gardens, seed planting plot (which was fenced), the water flume up the canyon behind the structures, and the “dirt road to Hiway #1.” As stated in the property lease, the property owner/lessor agreed to provide among other infrastructure for the lessees’ use, a pumping plant and pipeline as well as “a flume or ditch along the ridge on the eastern slope of said premises to bring water for irrigating premises,” and “all

necessary pipes to carry water for domestic and household use.”175 The hand-drawn map of the ranch buildings, Figure 4-3, clearly shows the flume line behind the houses. As discussed in Chapter 3, Subsection 3.2.6, “Study Area Vegetation Alliances and Field Reconnaissance for Historic Features,” the linear imprint in the grassland observed during the December 17, 2018 field reconnaissance of the Study Area was in fact a recently constructed diversion ditch for runoff flow off the hill slopes above and south of the Cowboy Shack Gulch, and not the old water flume alignment location that served these Swanton agricultural families.

174 _{Scaramozzino, “Una Legua Cuadrada,” Appendix B: Pini Ranch and Family, 122-124, which includes a}

copy of the land lease between C. H. Widemann and Attilio Venturini, Giuseppe Pini, Ermano Lombardi, Battista Giannini, Celeste Pini and Peitro Vaggioli, December 23, 1922.

175

Figure 4-2. Hand-Drawn Map of Pini and Neighboring Ranches on “La Siberia,” 1924

Map courtesy of Marie (Pini) Stoner and Kim Stoner, personal family historical memorabilia, with permission to the author to reproduce.

Water Flume Seed Planting

Area

Dirt Access Road to Old Coast Road

Figure 4-3. Hand-Drawn Map of Pini Village and Water Flume

Map courtesy of Marie (Pini) Stoner and Kim Stoner, personal family historical memorabilia, with permission to the author to reproduce.

Historic Pasture Fence Lines

Figure 4-4. LiDAR Shaded Relief Map of Study Area with 1928 Historical Aerial Photograph

The actual location of the old flume line however, is nearby and somewhat visible in the 1928 historical aerial photograph shown in Figure 4-8 along with the LiDAR relief map of the Study Area in Figure 4-4 and an historical family photograph (Figure 4-5)

discussed subsequently. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology illustrates the features of the surface terrain of the Study Area including linear depressions and other potential historical features of the surface topography.176 The flume line represents an historical remnant of the early twentieth century ranching and farming infrastructure on SPR, which, along with other ranch homes, barns and structures, combined to potentially further modify, or modify differently the soil and vegetation types beyond what earlier migrant livestock grazing activities from the Spanish and Mexican land grant periods may have done. The LiDAR imagery also shows other features including a linear grid pattern which corresponds with apparent pasture fence or other demarcation lines visible in the historical aerial photographs from the later periods addressed herein (Figures 4-9 through 4-11).

The majority of the redwood boards that made up the water flume are gone from the pastureland in or around the Study Area (there are some remnant pieces according to retired SPR Livestock Manager Gordon Claassen) and the herbaceous (grassland) vegetation in the location where the flume is estimated to have been aligned does not appear to have been altered by the water line. Therefore, it may be concluded that this structure has likely caused no or minimal obvious permanent change to the vegetation types on the Study Area. However, scientific evaluation of this aspect of early farming 176 _{National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, “What is LIDAR,” accessed April 24, 2019,}

https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/lidar.html. LIDAR (or LiDAR) technology uses a remote sensing laser light method to measure variable distances to the Earth’s surface from an airborne system to generate precise three-dimensional information about the shape of the Earth’s surface characteristics.

and ranching in the twentieth century on the Western Terrace would likely ascertain if there were long-term changes to the native/non-native taxa from this historic structure.

Several historical photographs of the Pini family are presented in Jeanine Scaramozzino’s thesis. The research herein delves further into those images and others that may reveal details about, if not add more historical inquiries into, the use of the land in the Study Area in the early twentieth century, and whether or not the primary

vegetation types and locations change in any manner over the course of the intervening decades. Field visits conducted on November 2 and December 17, 2018 included investigations of potential locations of where two of the Pini family photographs had been taken, using the background imagery of vegetation and landforms in the

photographs. The “Artichoke Pioneers” photograph taken in 1924 (Figure 4-5) includes members of the Pini family, including Marie (Pini) Stoner at about age 1½ and her parents Virginia and Celeste Pini, and several of their farming partners, Attilio Venturini, Mike Conrado and Ermano Lombardi.177 This photograph shows artichoke plants in the foreground, and two hills separated by a ravine in the background with Baccharis pilularis Shrubland vegetation on the steeper-sloped areas and herbaceous alliance (grassland) vegetation on the lesser slope to the right. The site visits confirmed that the shrubland and grassland alliances visible in this photograph are consistent with present- day vegetation types on those slopes. A portion of a small house and a wagon are visible in the middle-ground on the left side of the photograph; these were leased by the Conrado

177

The photograph in Figure 4-5 is from the personal family memorabilia of Marie (Pini) Stoner. The Pini family has traditionally referred to the photograph as “The Artichoke Pioneers.”

A

B

C

Figure 4-5. The “Artichoke Pioneers” in 1924

Left to right: Mike Conrado, Attilio Venturini, Virginia Pini, Celeste Pini holding Marie Pini (1+ years old,) Ermano Lombardi, John Conrado (son of Mike Conrado), Attilio Conrado (son of Mike Conrado), Jacinto Conrado (brother of Mike Conrado), unknown ranch worker and unknown ranch worker. The photograph was taken in an artichoke field southwest of the Pini ranch buildings and the present-day Hay Barn structure and east of the Cowboy Shack.

A. The house and wagon in the upper left area of the photograph were leased by the Conrado family.

B. The light-colored linear feature is a tear in the photograph.

C. Just below and parallel to the tear line is the likely water flume line location.

Photograph and information courtesy of Marie (Pini) Stoner and Kim Stoner, personal family historical memorabilia, with permission to the author to reproduce. Flume line location (C) information provided by Gordon Claassen, Swanton Pacific Ranch, to author, March 4, 2019.

family, according to Pini family information on the original photograph. Further, the house in the photograph is not the same location as the current Cowboy Shack structure according to Marie (Pini) Stoner.178 The field visit participants in the December 17, 2018 site reconnaissance concluded that the “Artichoke Pioneers” photograph was most likely taken in what is presently the “Wire Lot,” a livestock paddock south of the Hay Barn and east of the Cowboy Shack buildings which are below the site of the former Pini Village. Marie (Pini) Stoner believes that the photograph was in fact taken in the present-day Wire Lot.179

The “Artichoke Pioneers” photograph in Figure 4-5 has a light-colored line in the upper right-hand corner which has been thought by some who have studied the history of SPR to potentially be the redwood flume line that supplied water to the water reservoirs that fed the Brussels sprouts and artichoke fields as well as the ranch homes in the Pini Village. However, in communication with the Pini family for this research, the light line was clarified to be a tear in the original photo print, not the water flume. A darker line parallel to and just below the white tear is approximately the flume alignment location, according to Gordon Claassen, who has extensive familiarity with the Study Area and environs from fifteen years as Livestock Manager of SPR.180 Therefore, in addition to the previous discussion pertaining to Figures 4-4 and 4-8, the flume line constructed in the 1920s is recognizable in this historical family image shown in Figure 4-5.

A family photograph of Marie (Pini) Stoner on her Confirmation Day in eighth grade in 1936 as shown in Figure 4-6 was also assessed in the field in an attempt to 178 _{Kim Stoner, e-mail communication with author, January 5, 2019.}

179

Ibid.

180

Gordon Claassen, personal communication with author, March 4, 2019. Claassen served as SPR Livestock Manager from 2005 through March 2019.

Figure 4-6. Marie Pini on her Confirmation Day, 1936.

According to Marie (Pini) Stoner, this photograph was taken up behind (north of) the Pinis’ ranch house on the side of a hill overlooking the creek which ran east-west through the gulch by the ranch buildings (Kim Stoner, e-mail communication to author, January 5, 2019). Note the Coyote Brush Shrubland vegetation on the hills in the background. Photograph courtesy of Marie (Pini) Stoner and Kim Stoner, personal family historical memorabilia, with permission to the author to reproduce.

determine its photographic location based on vegetation and landform features in the image. The origin location of this photograph could not be determined with confidence during either field reconnaissance visits (November 2, 2018 and December 17, 2019) from within the Study Area given the distinctive ridge line and ravine topography in the background of the photograph which was not evident during the field visits. However, Marie (Pini) Stoner stated subsequent to the author’s field visits that the photograph location was up in the canyon area behind the family ranch home on the hillside that overlooks the creek which ran behind their “village” of ranch structures. Upon study of aerial photography of this area it appears that the photograph location was either just about at the northern boundary of the Study Area or just to the north of it on the facing hill slope outside of the Study Area.181 The Baccharis pilularis Shrubland vegetation in background of the black and white photograph appears to be robust in density covering the hill slopes behind Marie Pini, as such those areas were not apparently disturbed by crops, grazing or other human activities which is likely given the steep grades of the slopes. These historical photographs (Figures 4-5 and 4-6) with vegetation in the

background indicate that the vegetation in the Study Area has remained essentially static in terms of types and geospatial coverage since the early part of the twentieth century.

According to Marie (Pini) Stoner, her family’s tilled crop fields were primarily located in some of the grassland pastures (Herbaceous alliance vegetation) below (to the south and southwest) including the present-day Wire Lot as discussed previously, and to the northwest of the Pini Village structures in the drainage of Cowboy Shack Gulch; the fields to the northwest were up on a hill. Marie (Pini) Stoner indicates that there were

fields below the Cook House, a structure at the lower end of the ranch buildings, which also served as a shed for cleaning and packing the sprouts after picking.182 Figure 4-8 in Section 4.5 indicates the approximate locations of the crop fields as well as the Cook House/Packing Shed. The current Hay Barn structure is the only building remaining from the ranch buildings during the Pinis time when it served as a bunk house for the farm workers. The crop fields were not fenced; the only fencing recollected by Marie (Pini) Stoner was around a “seeding” plot in the cluster of the ranch houses and buildings used by the Pinis, Conrados and Venturini families and for farm workers. The plot, which was on the west side of the Conrado house (Figure 4-3) was used to seed the Brussels sprouts and artichoke plants for transfer into the fields. Marie recalls the family farmers tossing out Brussels sprout seeds in the plot and planting cuttings from artichoke plants in the fields to grow starter plants in the plot; after those had become established they would be transferred into the regular fields and planted in rows.183

Fertilizer was applied to certain portions of the farm fields at differing times each year. In addition to the seeding plot, each of the three families in the Pini Village, the Pinis, Conrados and Venturinis, had their own family vegetable gardens near their houses as well as a small shared plot of peas for which the location was rotated annually. The three families did not raise livestock commercially, although the families owned plow horses and the Conrados owned one milk cow. Each of the three families had chickens

182 _{At this time there is no primary source material known to be available by the author or the Pini family}

that would confirm the boundaries or acreage of the crop fields. The locations described herein are approximate based on Mari (Pini) Stoner’s recollection.

183

and rabbits, and the Pinis owned a goat in a small fenced area near the house. Two water reservoirs in the form of earthen dams were located on either side of the property.184

In general, soil-disturbing activities such as disking and plowing for crop

production and grazing and hoof-pressure by livestock can impact the vegetation types, in terms of either the proportion of native to non-native (introduced) plant taxa or changing the vegetative alliances and/or modifying succession stages of vegetation. An example of the latter two extreme conditions of vegetative change is superbly uncovered by Elinor K. Melville who studied the introduction of pastoralism, specifically sheep grazing, in the